Matched set of four hall chairs
Ian Cairnie
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1730 - 1980
Materials
Painted deal or pine
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Beningbrough Hall, North Yorkshire
NT 1190801
Summary
A matched set of four painted deal or pine hall chairs. One is English, circa 1730, the remaining three chairs made as copies by Dick Reid of York and painted by Ian Cairnie in 1980. High shaped back with oval medallion and a solid dished seat with moulded edge, raised on twin solid front and rear supports with hipped out swept legs, tied by a shaped stretcher. All are decorated with armorial devices with the original also featuring a coat of arms in the centre oval.
Full description
The coat of arms featured on the original chair in the set is that of Sir Edwyn Frances Stanhope, 2nd baronet (1793-1874) combined with those of his wife, Mary Dowell (married in 1820). Sir Edwyn's father was Admiral Henry Edwyn Stanhope (1754-1814) of Stanwell House, Middlesex who became a baronet in 1807. His family was descended from the 11th son of Philip Stanhope, 1st Earl of Chesterfield (1584-1656), while his father's mother was Catherine Brydges (1725-1807) eldest daughter and heir of John Brydges, Marquess of Carnarvon. Sir Edwyn Frances Stanhope inherited (after a long legal battle) the Scudamore estate of Holme Lacy nr Hereford and added Scudamore to his name in 1827. Sir Edwyn's son, Sir Henry Edwyn Chandos Scudamore-Stanhope, 3rd baronet (1821-1887) inherited the Stanhope title of 8th Earl of Chesterfield from a distant cousin in 1883. This accumulated inheritance passed to his son and grandson (the 9th and 10th Earls of Chesterfield). The 10th Earl, Edwyn Francis Scudamore-Stanhope (1854-1933) sold Holme Lacy in 1910 and came to live at Beningbrough (purchased by his wife) in 1917. The armorial devices on the chair relate to both the Stanhope line (a demi-lion in a tower holding a grenade or fire ball) and the Scudamores (a lion paw above a Viscount's coronet) and were probably painted in the 1820s.
Provenance
The original chair in this set was almost certainly brought to Beningbrough from Holme Lacy (sold 1910) by Lord and Lady Chesterfield when they purchased Beningbrough in 1917. It was one of the items purchased on behalf of the National Trust from the 1958 sale of Beningbrough's contents (lot 835). Beningbrough Hall itself was given to the National Trust in 1958 in lieu of death duties following the death of Lady Chesterfield. As part of extensive refurbishment of Beningbrough in the late 1970s, three copies were made to match the original for display in the Entrance Hall.
Makers and roles
Ian Cairnie, artist Dick Reid, OBE (1936-2021), furniture maker